1 .TH "GStreamer" "1" "May 2007"
3 gst\-launch\-1.0 \- build and run a GStreamer pipeline
5 \fBgst\-launch\-1.0\fR \fI[OPTION...]\fR PIPELINE\-DESCRIPTION
8 \fIgst\-launch\-1.0\fP is a tool that builds and runs basic
9 \fIGStreamer\fP pipelines.
11 In simple form, a PIPELINE\-DESCRIPTION is a list of
12 elements separated by exclamation marks (!). Properties may be appended to
13 elements, in the form \fIproperty=value\fR.
15 For a complete description of possible PIPELINE-DESCRIPTIONS see the section
16 \fIpipeline description\fR below or consult the GStreamer documentation.
18 Please note that \fIgst\-launch\-1.0\fP is primarily a debugging tool for
19 developers and users. You should not build applications on top of it. For
20 applications, use the gst_parse_launch() function of the GStreamer API as an
21 easy way to construct pipelines from pipeline descriptions.
25 \fIgst\-launch\-1.0\fP accepts the following options:
28 Print help synopsis and available FLAGS
31 Output status information and property notifications
34 Do not print any progress information
37 Output messages posted on the pipeline's bus
40 Output tags (also known as metadata)
42 .B \-e, \-\-eos\-on\-shutdown
43 Force an EOS event on sources before shutting the pipeline down. This is
44 useful to make sure muxers create readable files when a muxing pipeline is
45 shut down forcefully via Control-C.
48 Gather and print index statistics. This is mostly useful for playback or
52 Do not install a fault handler
55 Print memory allocation traces. The feature must be enabled at compile time to
60 .SH "GSTREAMER OPTIONS"
62 \fIgst\-launch\-1.0\fP also accepts the following options that are common
63 to all GStreamer applications:
66 Prints the version string of the \fIGStreamer\fP core library.
68 .B \-\-gst\-fatal\-warnings
69 Causes \fIGStreamer\fP to abort if a warning message occurs. This is equivalent
70 to setting the environment variable G_DEBUG to 'fatal_warnings' (see the
71 section \fIenvironment variables\fR below for further information).
73 .B \-\-gst\-debug=STRING
74 A comma separated list of category_name:level pairs to specify debugging levels
75 for each category. Level is in the range 0-9 where 0 will show no messages, and
76 9 will show all messages. The wildcard * can be used to match category names.
77 Note that the order of categories and levels is important, wildcards at the
78 end may override levels set earlier. The log levels are: 1=ERROR, 2=WARNING,
79 3=FIXME, 4=INFO, 5=DEBUG, 6=LOG, 7=TRACE, 9=MEMDUMP. Since GStreamer 1.2 one
80 can also use the debug level names, e.g. \-\-gst\-debug=*sink:LOG. A full
81 description of the various debug levels can be found in the GStreamer core
82 library API documentation, in the "Running GStreamer Applications" section.
84 Use \-\-gst\-debug\-help to show category names
87 GST_CAT:5,GST_ELEMENT_*:3,oggdemux:5
90 .B \-\-gst\-debug\-level=LEVEL
91 Sets the threshold for printing debugging messages. A higher level
92 will print more messages. The useful range is 0-9, with the default
93 being 0. Level 6 (LOG level) will show all information that is usually
94 required for debugging purposes. Higher levels are only useful in very
95 specific cases. See above for the full list of levels.
97 .B \-\-gst\-debug\-no\-color
98 \fIGStreamer\fP normally prints debugging messages so that the
99 messages are color-coded when printed to a terminal that handles
100 ANSI escape sequences. Using this option causes \fIGStreamer\fP
101 to print messages without color. Setting the \fBGST_DEBUG_NO_COLOR\fR
102 environment variable will achieve the same thing.
104 .B \-\-gst\-debug\-color\-mode
105 \fIGStreamer\fP normally prints debugging messages so that the
106 messages are color-coded when printed to a terminal that handles
107 ANSI escape sequences (on *nix), or uses W32 console API to color the
108 messages printed into a console (on W32). Using this option causes
109 \fIGStreamer\fP to print messages without color ('off' or 'disable'),
110 print messages with default colors ('on' or 'auto'), or print messages
111 using ANSI escape sequences for coloring ('unix'). Setting the
112 \fBGST_DEBUG_COLOR_MODE\fR environment variable will achieve the same thing.
114 .B \-\-gst\-debug\-disable
117 .B \-\-gst\-debug\-help
118 Prints a list of available debug categories and their default debugging level.
120 .B \-\-gst\-plugin\-spew
121 \fIGStreamer\fP info flags to set
122 Enable printout of errors while loading \fIGStreamer\fP plugins
124 .B \-\-gst\-plugin\-path=PATH
125 Add directories separated with ':' to the plugin search path
127 .B \-\-gst\-plugin\-load=PLUGINS
128 Preload plugins specified in a comma-separated list. Another way to specify
129 plugins to preload is to use the environment variable GST_PLUGIN_PATH
131 .SH "PIPELINE DESCRIPTION"
133 A pipeline consists \fIelements\fR and \fIlinks\fR. \fIElements\fR can be put
134 into \fIbins\fR of different sorts. \fIElements\fR, \fIlinks\fR and \fIbins\fR
135 can be specified in a pipeline description in any order.
139 ELEMENTTYPE \fI[PROPERTY1 ...]\fR
141 Creates an element of type ELEMENTTYPE and sets the PROPERTIES.
147 Sets the property to the specified value. You can use \fBgst\-inspect\-1.0\fR(1) to
148 find out about properties and allowed values of different elements.
150 Enumeration properties can be set by name, nick or value.
154 \fI[BINTYPE.]\fR ( \fI[PROPERTY1 ...]\fR PIPELINE-DESCRIPTION )
157 Specifies that a bin of type BINTYPE is created and the given properties are
158 set. Every element between the braces is put into the bin. Please note the dot
159 that has to be used after the BINTYPE. You will almost never need this
160 functionality, it is only really useful for applications using the
161 gst_launch_parse() API with 'bin' as bintype. That way it is possible to build
162 partial pipelines instead of a full-fledged top-level pipeline.
166 \fI[[SRCELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR ! \fI[[SINKELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR
167 \fI[[SRCELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR ! CAPS ! \fI[[SINKELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR
168 \fI[[SRCELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR : \fI[[SINKELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR
169 \fI[[SRCELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR : CAPS : \fI[[SINKELEMENT].[PAD1,...]]\fR
171 Links the element with name SRCELEMENT to the element with name SINKELEMENT,
172 using the caps specified in CAPS as a filter.
173 Names can be set on elements with the name property. If the name is omitted, the
174 element that was specified directly in front of or after the link is used. This
175 works across bins. If a padname is given, the link is done with these pads. If
176 no pad names are given all possibilities are tried and a matching pad is used.
177 If multiple padnames are given, both sides must have the same number of pads
178 specified and multiple links are done in the given order.
180 So the simplest link is a simple exclamation mark, that links the element to
181 the left of it to the element right of it.
183 Linking using the : operator attempts to link all possible pads between
189 MEDIATYPE \fI[, PROPERTY[, PROPERTY ...]]]\fR \fI[; CAPS[; CAPS ...]]\fR
191 Creates a capability with the given media type and optionally with given
192 properties. The media type can be escaped using " or '.
193 If you want to chain caps, you can add more caps in the same format afterwards.
197 NAME=\fI[(TYPE)]\fRVALUE
199 in lists and ranges: \fI[(TYPE)]\fRVALUE
201 Sets the requested property in capabilities. The name is an alphanumeric value
202 and the type can have the following case-insensitive values:
204 - \fBi\fR or \fBint\fR for integer values or ranges
206 - \fBf\fR or \fBfloat\fR for float values or ranges
208 - \fBb\fR, \fBbool\fR or \fBboolean\fR for boolean values
210 - \fBs\fR, \fBstr\fR or \fBstring\fR for strings
212 - \fBfraction\fR for fractions (framerate, pixel\-aspect\-ratio)
214 - \fBl\fR or \fBlist\fR for lists
216 If no type was given, the following order is tried: integer, float, boolean,
219 Integer values must be parsable by \fBstrtol()\fP, floats by \fBstrtod()\fP. FOURCC values may
220 either be integers or strings. Boolean values are (case insensitive) \fIyes\fR,
221 \fIno\fR, \fItrue\fR or \fIfalse\fR and may like strings be escaped with " or '.
223 Ranges are in this format: [ VALUE, VALUE ]
225 Lists use this format: { VALUE \fI[, VALUE ...]\fR }
227 .SH "PIPELINE EXAMPLES"
229 The examples below assume that you have the correct plug-ins available.
230 In general, "pulsesink" can be substituted with another audio output
231 plug-in such as "alsasink" or "osxaudiosink"
232 Likewise, "xvimagesink" can be substituted with "ximagesink", "glimagesink",
233 or "osxvideosink". Keep in mind though that different sinks might
234 accept different formats and even the same sink might accept different formats
235 on different machines, so you might need to add converter elements like
236 audioconvert and audioresample (for audio) or videoconvert (for video)
237 in front of the sink to make things work.
241 Play the mp3 music file "music.mp3" using a libmpg123-based plug-in and
242 output to an Pulseaudio device
245 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
247 Play an Ogg Vorbis format file
250 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.ogg ! oggdemux ! vorbisdec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
252 Play an mp3 file or an http stream using GIO
255 gst\-launch\-1.0 giosrc location=music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! pulsesink
258 gst\-launch\-1.0 giosrc location=http://domain.com/music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
260 Use GIO to play an mp3 file located on an SMB server
263 gst\-launch\-1.0 giosrc location=smb://computer/music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
267 Convert an mp3 music file to an Ogg Vorbis file
270 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! vorbisenc ! oggmux ! filesink location=music.ogg
272 Convert to the FLAC format
275 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.mp3 ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! flacenc ! filesink location=test.flac
279 Plays a .WAV file that contains raw audio data (PCM).
282 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
284 Convert a .WAV file containing raw audio data into an Ogg Vorbis or mp3 file
287 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse ! audioconvert ! vorbisenc ! oggmux ! filesink location=music.ogg
290 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse ! audioconvert ! lamemp3enc ! filesink location=music.mp3
292 Rips all tracks from compact disc and convert them into a single mp3 file
295 gst\-launch\-1.0 cdparanoiasrc mode=continuous ! audioconvert ! lamemp3enc ! mpegaudioparse ! id3v2mux ! filesink location=cd.mp3
297 Rips track 5 from the CD and converts it into a single mp3 file
300 gst\-launch\-1.0 cdparanoiasrc track=5 ! audioconvert ! lamemp3enc ! mpegaudioparse ! id3v2mux ! filesink location=track5.mp3
302 Using \fBgst\-inspect\-1.0\fR(1), it is possible to discover settings like the above
303 for cdparanoiasrc that will tell it to rip the entire cd or only tracks of it.
304 Alternatively, you can use an URI and gst\-launch\-1.0 will find an element (such as
305 cdparanoia) that supports that protocol for you, e.g.:
307 gst\-launch\-1.0 cdda://5 ! lamemp3enc vbr=new vbr\-quality=6 ! filesink location=track5.mp3
309 Records sound from your audio input and encodes it into an ogg file
312 gst\-launch\-1.0 pulsesrc ! audioconvert ! vorbisenc ! oggmux ! filesink location=input.ogg
316 Display only the video portion of an MPEG-1 video file, outputting to
320 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=JB_FF9_TheGravityOfLove.mpg ! dvddemux ! mpegvideoparse ! mpeg2dec ! xvimagesink
322 Display the video portion of a .vob file (used on DVDs), outputting to
326 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=/flflfj.vob ! dvddemux ! mpegvideoparse ! mpeg2dec ! sdlvideosink
328 Play both video and audio portions of an MPEG movie
331 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=movie.mpg ! dvddemux name=demuxer demuxer. ! queue ! mpegvideoparse ! mpeg2dec ! sdlvideosink demuxer. ! queue ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
333 Play an AVI movie with an external text subtitle stream
336 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=movie.mpg ! mpegdemux name=demuxer demuxer. ! queue ! mpegvideoparse ! mpeg2dec ! videoconvert ! sdlvideosink demuxer. ! queue ! mpegaudioparse ! mpg123audiodec ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
338 This example also shows how to refer to specific pads by name if an element
339 (here: textoverlay) has multiple sink or source pads.
342 gst\-launch\-1.0 textoverlay name=overlay ! videoconvert ! videoscale ! autovideosink filesrc location=movie.avi ! decodebin ! videoconvert ! overlay.video_sink filesrc location=movie.srt ! subparse ! overlay.text_sink
344 Play an AVI movie with an external text subtitle stream using playbin
347 gst\-launch\-1.0 playbin uri=file:///path/to/movie.avi suburi=file:///path/to/movie.srt
351 Stream video using RTP and network elements.
353 This command would be run on the transmitter
356 gst\-launch\-1.0 v4l2src ! video/x\-raw,width=128,height=96,format=UYVY ! videoconvert ! ffenc_h263 ! video/x\-h263 ! rtph263ppay pt=96 ! udpsink host=192.168.1.1 port=5000
358 Use this command on the receiver
361 gst\-launch\-1.0 udpsrc port=5000 ! application/x\-rtp, clock\-rate=90000,payload=96 ! rtph263pdepay queue\-delay=0 ! ffdec_h263 ! xvimagesink
365 Generate a null stream and ignore it (and print out details).
368 gst\-launch\-1.0 \-v fakesrc num\-buffers=16 ! fakesink
370 Generate a pure sine tone to test the audio output
373 gst\-launch\-1.0 audiotestsrc ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
375 Generate a familiar test pattern to test the video output
378 gst\-launch\-1.0 videotestsrc ! xvimagesink
381 gst\-launch\-1.0 videotestsrc ! ximagesink
385 You can use the decodebin element to automatically select the right elements
386 to get a working pipeline.
388 Play any supported audio format
391 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=musicfile ! decodebin ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink
393 Play any supported video format with video and audio output. Threads are used
394 automatically. To make this even easier, you can use the playbin element:
397 gst\-launch\-1.0 filesrc location=videofile ! decodebin name=decoder decoder. ! queue ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! pulsesink decoder. ! videoconvert ! xvimagesink
400 gst\-launch\-1.0 playbin uri=file:///home/joe/foo.avi
403 .B Filtered connections
405 These examples show you how to use filtered caps.
407 Show a test image and use the YUY2 or YV12 video format for this.
410 gst\-launch\-1.0 videotestsrc ! 'video/x\-raw,format=YUY2;video/x\-raw,format=YV12' ! xvimagesink
412 Record audio and write it to a .wav file. Force usage of signed 16 to 32 bit
413 samples and a sample rate between 32kHz and 64KHz.
416 gst\-launch\-1.0 pulsesrc ! 'audio/x\-raw,rate=[32000,64000],format={S16LE,S24LE,S32LE}' ! wavenc ! filesink location=recording.wav
419 .SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
422 Comma-separated list of debug categories and levels (e.g.
423 GST_DEBUG=totem:4,typefind:5). '*' is allowed as a wildcard as part of
424 debug category names (e.g. GST_DEBUG=*sink:6,*audio*:6). Since 1.2.0 it is
425 also possible to specify the log level by name (1=ERROR, 2=WARN, 3=FIXME,
426 4=INFO, 5=DEBUG, 6=LOG, 7=TRACE, 9=MEMDUMP) (e.g. GST_DEBUG=*audio*:LOG)
428 \fBGST_DEBUG_NO_COLOR\fR
429 When this environment variable is set, coloured debug output is disabled.
431 \fBGST_DEBUG_DUMP_DOT_DIR\fR
432 When set to a filesystem path, store 'dot' files of pipeline graphs there.
433 These can then later be converted into an image using the 'dot' utility from
434 the graphviz set of tools, like this: dot foo.dot \-Tsvg \-o foo.svg (png or jpg
435 are also possible as output format). There is also a utility called 'xdot'
436 which allows you to view the .dot file directly without converting it first.
438 When the pipeline changes state through NULL to PLAYING and back to NULL, a
439 dot file is generated on each state change. To write a snapshot of the
440 pipeline state, send a SIGHUP to the process.
443 Path of the plugin registry file. Default is
444 ~/.cache/gstreamer\-1.0/registry\-CPU.bin where CPU is the
445 machine/cpu type GStreamer was compiled for, e.g. 'i486', 'i686', 'x86\-64', 'ppc',
446 etc. (check the output of "uname \-i" and "uname \-m" for details).
448 \fBGST_REGISTRY_UPDATE\fR
449 Set to "no" to force GStreamer to assume that no plugins have changed,
450 been added or been removed. This will make GStreamer skip the initial check
451 whether a rebuild of the registry cache is required or not. This may be useful
452 in embedded environments where the installed plugins never change. Do not
453 use this option in any other setup.
455 \fBGST_PLUGIN_PATH\fR
456 Specifies a list of directories to scan for additional plugins.
457 These take precedence over the system plugins.
459 \fBGST_PLUGIN_SYSTEM_PATH\fR
460 Specifies a list of plugins that are always loaded by default. If not set,
461 this defaults to the system-installed path, and the plugins installed in the
462 user's home directory
465 Set this variable to a file path to redirect all GStreamer debug
466 messages to this file. If left unset, debug messages with be output
467 unto the standard error.
470 Useful Orc environment variable. Set ORC_CODE=debug to enable debuggers
471 such as gdb to create useful backtraces from Orc-generated code. Set
472 ORC_CODE=backup or ORC_CODE=emulate if you suspect Orc's SIMD code
473 generator is producing incorrect code. (Quite a few important
474 GStreamer plugins like videotestsrc, audioconvert or audioresample use Orc).
477 Useful GLib environment variable. Set G_DEBUG=fatal_warnings to make
478 GStreamer programs abort when a critical warning such as an assertion failure
479 occurs. This is useful if you want to find out which part of the code caused
480 that warning to be triggered and under what circumstances. Simply set G_DEBUG
481 as mentioned above and run the program in gdb (or let it core dump). Then get
482 a stack trace in the usual way.
486 ~/.cache/gstreamer\-1.0/registry\-*.bin
487 The plugin cache; can be deleted at any time, will be re-created
488 automatically when it does not exist yet or plugins change. Based on
489 XDG_CACHE_DIR, so may be in a different location than the one suggested.
492 .BR gst\-inspect\-1.0 (1),
493 .BR gst\-launch\-1.0 (1),
495 The GStreamer team at http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/